Historical linguistics MA program for someone lacking experience

[mt55]

I know that there are already several topics addressing similar concerns, but since every person's background is a little different I wanted to see if I could get any feedback about my particular situation. I got my B.A. in 2012 double majoring in Spanish and Philosophy. I have taken five semesters of German and a semester of Arabic (and am currently in a non-credit certificate class in Arabic at NYU's SCPS, just for fun mostly). I did a full year abroad in Spain, and my GPA and GRE scores are solid enough, I think. 170 Verbal and 163 Quantative for the GRE and a 3.7 undergrad GPA, magna cum laude. (I never see anyone mention the GRE writing; is this something that schools consider? With a 4.5 it was my weakest section)

 

I realized very late in the game that what I'm interested more than anything is language itself rather than a specific language, although my school didn't offer a linguistics major or minor anyways. I did take the one class offered in linguistics, which was a very basic, easy introduction (I didn't do any valuable work in this class that could be used as a writing sample). Other than this one class, I have no formal experience in linguistics whatsoever, and I have no research experience in any field. I have done a lot of reading and studying of my own in the last couple months, including several textbooks and online resources. I am confident that linguistics is the field that I want to pursue.

 

While my experience doesn't seem completely irrelevant, I can't help worrying that I wouldn't be wanted in a reputable MA program compared to others with more direct experience in linguistics. Even the threads I've browsed here about people without BAs in linguistics applying to grad school seem to have taken more classes in linguistics, done some research, etc.

 

I live in New York City, and the CUNY program looks very tempting due to the low cost for residents (I assume I'll have to pay my way through any MA program). I've also been looking at University of Hawaii - Manoa, UC Davis, and some others. My knowledge of linguistics isn't sophisticated enough to know about research of specific professors beyond the vague descriptions posted on faculty pages. I do know that historical linguistics interests me greatly, as well as the cultural/linguistic/historical interaction of Spanish and Arabic in Andalucia, where I really first considered getting into linguistics.

 

I'm curious about my chances about getting into one of these programs or someone in my position getting into a MA program in linguistics in general. This is my first post on this forum, and I hope that I can provide some constructive help to others applying once I'm farther on in my application process.

 

Thanks for any help -- I apologize if this sort of topic is annoying, and I know that a lot of getting into a program depends on a particular fit with that program and not GRE stats and GPAs. I'm posting more for therapeutic reasons and to get some real human feedback, rather than looking at tables for minimum GRE scores, school rankings, and all the things I've already looked at.

Edited October 8, 2013 by mt55

[fuzzylogician]

I am not an expert on historical linguistics programs but generally speaking, to have a good chance at getting into a program what you want to do is demonstrate that you are a good fit. The question adcoms will be asking themselves is what are your chances of finishing the program successfully and in a timely manner, and for someone with your kind of background that translates into two (related) questions: how do you know that you want to study linguistics, since you've never done it in the past, and will you be successful at it? So you will want to tie as much of your past as you can into your future plans, and you'll want to demonstrate research ability in a related field (i.e., your undergrad field). You should have a rational explanation for how you know that you want to do linguistics and you should be able to tie it to some kind of future plan, because people don't normally do an unfunded MA program unless they have a good reason. If you can do those things, I think you'll stand a good chance. People with unusual backgrounds get into PhD programs quite often, so getting into an MA program should be a feasible goal. 

[pangur-ban]

I agree with fuzzy logician that you should be able to get into an MA program (especially if you're self-funding) without too much trouble with your background. I came to linguistics with a background in language study and then did a linguistics MA and now I'm doing a PhD and it all worked out reasonably well.

 

Additionally, if you're interested in historical linguistics, you should look at the programs at the University of Georgia, and see if UNC-Chapel Hill still offers MAs. (I heard they stopped offering PhDs, but it'd be a good place for your interests for an MA, if they have it).

Edited October 10, 2013 by pangur-ban